OSHA to Propose Beryllium Limit in the Works Since 1975

After decades of delay, federal workplace regulators on Thursday proposed a sharply lower limit for exposure to beryllium, a widely used industrial mineral, which is linked to a deadly lung disease.

The new standard, proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, would lower the allowable exposure limit to beryllium to one-tenth the current level. A small percentage of workers exposed to beryllium, a naturally occurring metal, develop a potentially fatal respiratory ailment known as chronic beryllium disease.

Beryllium and alloys containing the light, strong metal are used in the manufacture of aircraft, electronics components, dental implants and nuclear weapons, among other things. While OSHA does not track the number of workers who have chronic beryllium disease diagnosed annually, an agency spokeswoman said officials estimated that there were about 245 new cases every year.

OSHA first proposed lowering the beryllium workplace standard in 1975 but efforts to do so were beaten back over the years by industry resistance, technical debates and political stalling.

Dr. Lee Newman, an occupational expert who has long called on federal regulators to sharply cut beryllium exposure limits, said that while he was heartened by the new proposal, the long delay had exacted a large human toll.

“We’ve had a generation of workers who’ve had unnecessary overexposure while this was happening,” said Dr. Newman, a professor of public health at the University of Colorado.

While researchers like Dr. Newman long ago produced data showing that exposures to beryllium far below the permitted exposure level could result in chronic beryllium disease, momentum to change that level took shape only about five years ago.

At that point, Materion, the only producer of beryllium in the United States, approached union officials to suggest that they work together to recommend a new standard to OSHA. In 2012, after more than two years of negotiation, the company and the United Steelworkers submitted a joint plan.

In it, they called for cutting the federal exposure standard from 2.0 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 0.2 micrograms, the same reduction urged by Dr. Newman in 1999. In addition, the joint proposal called for medical monitoring of workers to detect early signs of beryllium-related disease.

Such monitoring is critical because, in some people, exposure to beryllium can cause an immunological reaction similar to an allergy. Once a person becomes sensitized to the metal’s dust, repeated contact can lead to a buildup of scar tissue in the lungs that can reduce the capacity to process oxygen and lead to death.

James Frederick, the assistant director for health, safety and environment of the United Steelworkers, said it was unusual for a company to approach a union to lobby in collaboration for a tougher workplace standard.

Mr. Frederick said that, while he was unaware of all the factors underlying Materion’s decision to push for a new standard, the company had faced a number of lawsuits over the years from beryllium-sickened workers or their families. In addition, while Materion had installed advanced protections in its plants, it could not control how its customers were handling beryllium.

For Materion, which was formerly known as Brush Wellman, the decision to push for a new beryllium standard represented a major turnabout.

In 1996, a lengthy article in The New York Times documented a long-running effort by Brush Wellman officials to block regulatory actions on beryllium and to dispute reports that workers exposed to low levels of the metal were developing chronic beryllium disease. At the time, company officials contended that they had only begun to suspect that health problems could arise at very low exposure levels.

For example, executives told the company’s board in the 1990s that preventing any tightening of the federal exposure standard was “fundamental to our defense against product liability lawsuits.”

In 1999, a series of articles in The Blade, a Toledo, Ohio, newspaper, documented how the Defense Department allowed workers involved in the production of nuclear weapons to receive high beryllium exposures. Federal officials have established a fund to compensate sickened nuclear facility workers.

Dr. David Michaels, the director of OSHA, said that he was pleased the new proposal was moving forward and that the agency hoped to have it completed by late 2016. Agency officials estimate the new rule will prevent close to 100 deaths annually.

In the coming months, the proposal will undergo a period of public comment. It could run into resistance from industries that believe they should not be covered by the new requirement. But Dr. Michaels is optimistic.

“In some ways, this is the final chapter of making peace with the past,” he said. “Once we finish, these workers will be protected and we will end the epidemic of beryllium exposure in the United States.”

A version of this article appears in print on , Section B, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: OSHA Proposes Beryllium Limit Long in Works . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe